Exercising apparatus.



A. ZTTND-BURGUET.

EXERGISING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED $22114. 1908.

Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

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ADOLPHE ZUND-BURGUET, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

EXERCISING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Application filed September 14, 1908. Serial No. 452,986.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADOLPHE Zr'iND-BUR- GUET, a citizen of the French Republic, residing in Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Belating to Exercising Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for strengthening muscles, more particularly the breathing or respiratory muscles, in which a ulling part or cord is unwound from a rol er in opposition to the action of a spring, and on the pull or tension ceasing, is again wound up by the spring. Devices of this kind are already known, in which it is possible to modify the initial resistance by regulating the strength of the spring or adjusting changing physiological state or condition of the muscles. In fact in all hitherto known devices the exercise must be interrupted when it is desired to alter the resistance of the spring or the resistance of the brake, this being a very great drawback from physiological and practical points of view. This is obviated in the present invention by the arrangement of a device by means of which the resistance offered to the muscles can be modified at any moment during the use in such manner as required by the changing condition and the changing efiort of the muscles, without it being necessary to interrupt the exercises for that purpose. This is effected according to this invention by the cord pulley controlled by the spring being connected to a brake device by means of which the resistance can be adapted at any moment to the changing condition and to the physiological strains on the muscles in an exact manner, without stopping the exercise. Such an adaptation is obviously impossible when the apparatus has to be stopped for adjusting the brake devices, which is the case in all other well known apparatus. According to this invention the action of the brake can be regulated by a simple pressure by the finger.

Three constructions of the device in question are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing.

In the said drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section and Fig. 2 a section at right angles to Fig. 1, showing one of these constructions. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar sections to that of Fig. 2 of modified constructions.

According to this invention, a barrel a, the long spiral spring 1* of which can be more or less wound up or set by means of a key or any other suitable device, is connected to or provided with a grooved ulley l) on which is wound a cable 0 of smal diameter. The barrel and the pulley can form a single piece as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. A'special brake, the application of which is effected from the outside, acts either on the barrel or on the pulley or on both simultaneously.

The whole of the mechanism is contained in a box or casing e which may be made, for the sake of convenience, of the shape and size of a large egg. By taking the apparatus in one hand, and pulling with the other hand, the free end of the cable 0, the other end of which is secured to the pulley b, the cable 0 when uni-oiling will not only rotate the pulley but also the barrel a to which it is connected. The spiral spring 7' contained in the said barrel will thus become wound up about its spindle to the greater extent, the lon er traction is exercised on the cable. In ecoming tightened, the spiral spring will offer a resistance to the traction, which resistance, owing to the length oi the spiral spring will be practically the same during the whole period of the unwinding of the cable. This can be called the initial resistance or the apparatus. For varying the resistance in question, it will be sufiicient to wind up or to loosen the spiral spring, as the case may be, to a greater or less extent before working the apparatus. A revolution counter f operated by the spindle g of the barrel will indicate the state of tension of the said spring. The said initial resistance can on the other hand be increased at any moment to suit the re quirements of the dynamic state of the muscles in action, by means of a special hand brake d. To that end, the operator has merely to press more or less on the end of the said brake which projects from the surface of the box or is connected to a projecting part. For regulating at will the action of the said brake, it is suflicient to adjust, according to circumstances, a stop nut 7b which can be screwed along the screw-threaded spindle i connecting the part or the pressure knob, to the end of the brake, and thus forming the stop point for the brake, without the operator having to think of the degree of tightening of said brake. By pulling the cable 0 which is unwound under the influence of the traction and is wound up automatically by the action of the spiral spring contained in the barrel, it is possible to execute with the arms the most varied movements and to act in as many different manners on the different breathing muscles.

The apparatus hereinbefore described as regards its principle, may be constructed in various ways. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the cable 0 connected with one of its ends to a ball 7c or to a ring, is wound with its other end on the pulley b which is constituted by the circumference of the barrel acontaining the spiral spring 1". The end of the said spring r opposite to that connected to the barrel b is attached to the spindle 9 about which the said barrel rotates, the spindle in question being mounted in this construction with its two ends in the walls of the casing 0. Before issuing from the casing e, the cable 0 passes over a guide roller Z. At each of its sides, the barrel (1 is provided with grooves min which are arranged flexible and curved rods 61 forming the brake. One end of each rod (Z is hooked into a hole n made in the interior of the casing e. The opposite ends of the said rods, which are connected together transversely at this point, engage in the forked or hooked end 0 at the end of the screw 1' of the brake operating part passing loosely through the wall of the casing c. The outer end of the screw i is connected to the flexible part j secured to the outer wall of the casing e and having the tendency to disengage the brake. The screw i is provided outside the said casing 6 with an adjustable stop nut h which, on being screwed down to a greater or less extent, determines the extent to which the screw i can enter into the interior of the casing under the action of pressure exercised on the flexible part Consequently the pressure in question determines the degree of tightening of the rods or bands d in the grooves m of the barrel. In the said construction the initial degree of tension of the spring 9 always remains the same. in the modified construction shown in Fig. 3, the degree of initial tension of the spring 7' can be varied by means of the following device :The barrel a/ and the pulley b are mounted independently of each other on the spindle g. They are provided respectively with toothed wheels p and q with which engages a pinion s which can be moved laterally so as to disengage it from the wheel q while keeping it in engagement with the wheel p. To that end, the spindle t to which the pinion s is secured, can be moved longitudinally by pressing from the outside on the said spindle by means of a head it which can be folded down against the outer wall of the casing e. A spring v has the tendency of keeping the pinion 8 always engagedpartly with the wheel 9 and partly with the wheel p. It follows from the above construction that *nen it is desired to vary the initial tension of the spiral spring 1", it is sufficient to push the spindle of the pinion s in order to disenit from the wheel Q while leaving it in engagement with the wheel 2). It remains then only to turn the said spindle to an extent corresponding to the desired degree of tension of the s ring 1". The pinion s is then brought back longitudinally so as to come again into engagement with the wheel g. During the whole of the time that the pulley I) is not submitted to the action of the barrel a by means of the pinion s, the said barrel is prevented from freely unwinding by the action of a spring :0. In that construction, the brake rods d act jointly in the grooves m arranged on each of the corresponding sides of the barrel a and of the uiley b. The cable c passes over guide roller 1.

In the construction'shown in Fig. 4c, the barrel 6& and the pulley b are made in one piece, and the control of the variation of the initial tension of the spring r is eliected by acting directly on the spindle g by means of a key of a suitable shape. The stoppage of the said spindle g at the desired degree of tension of the spring r is obtained by means of a sleeve y provided with inclined teeth engaging with corresponding teeth in the interior of the casing e A spring 2 has always the tendency to press the sleeve y to its position of fixed engagement with the casing.

The counter which enables the degree of tension of the spring to be ascertained can be of any desired construction. In the construction shown in Fig. 4 it is constituted by a disk with pine f operated by a pin provided on the sleeve y. An opening to made in the casing e opposite the figures on the disk f, enables the desired degree of tension of the spring 1 to be read at each revolution of the spindle g It is obvious that the length of the spring r must be sufli cient in order that having been tightened to a fairly high degree of initial tension, it should still enable the cable 0 to be completely unwound. The cable 0 passes over a guide roller Z as in the other constructions.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Muscle strengthening apparatus comprising a casing, a spring barrel mounted in said casing, a pulley mounted on the spindle of said barrel, a cable attached to the pulley at one end, and a brake on said pulley and means operable by the linger of the user for applying the brake to the pulley during use of the apparatus.

2. An exercising apparatus comprising a casing, a spring barrel mounted in said casing, means for varying the tension of said s ring barrel, a ulley mounted on the spine of said barre a cable attached to the pulley at one end, and a brake on said pulley and means operable by the finger of the user for applying the brake to the pulley during use 0 the apparatus.

3. An exercising a paratus comprising a casing, a spring barre mounted in said easing, a pulley mounted on the spindle of said barrel, a cable attached to the pulley at one end, a brake on said pulley and a screw spindle connected to the brake device extending throu h the side of the casing.

4. exercising apparatus comprising a casing, a spindle mounted therein, a spring 

